EDEN
by Kiera Embers
Summary: In a land where graffitti is the main source of information and guns are more valuable than gold what hope is there for a normal life? Our survivors reflect on their past,present and future. chapter 3 ellis chapter 4 nick
1. we are f

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would not have left Bill die and I would be making one uber bad ass movie

on a side note please review, i need to know ppl are reading

"Ellis get up"

"10 more minutes mama"

"Wake up ya moron!"

Nick applied a quick kick to Ellis' ribs.

"Ow, why'd you have to go and do that for!"

"Hey man I need my sleep so you get next watch, now get up and don't you even think about playing that guitar."

"Aw shucks Nick, there ain't no one around for miles!"

"I swear if you play that guitar I'll kill you myself now keep an eye out for anything, the binoculars are over there and don't use the nightvision unless you hear something, Rochelle gets next shift so when you start to feel sleep you wake her up."

"Alright alright, don't get yer panties in a twist"

Nick rolled his eyes and crawled into his sleeping bag while Ellis drank some cola. Ellis was looking out the window and smiling at the moon. All things considered the past few days had gone pretty well. They had encountered no hordes, 1 witch, 2 chargers, 4 jockeys, 3 hunters, 2 smokers and not one tank or boomer. Sticking to rural areas was a good idea. Sure there were less safe houses but hell there was less of a need for one. The cities were overrun, best to avoid them, and the military…. They were more harm than good. They were convinced that immune survivors were also "carriers". That just being around a carrier was enough to infect everyone around them. Ellis was reading some graffiti about the military shooting survivors that were immune or shipping them off someplace where they were never seen from again. Ellis took another swig from his coke and chuckled, if he and Keith had told their teachers that graffiti would one day be the main information source he wouldn't have spent so much time in detention. One of Coaches snores broke his thoughts.

Ellis turned to look at his ragtag family. Rochelle had the bed in the attic, it seemed right since she was the only woman in the group. Nick had a spot besides her and coach was on a futon they had found on the ground. Ellis grinned when Coach let out a particularly loud snore and simultaneous fart. Right now they were in a farm house somewhere in Texas, they were going west to get as far away from ground zero as possible, maybe find a boat and go to an island. The farmhouse had been abandoned and Ellis spent the whole day yesterday barricading the place with Coach, Nick said he could use guns not hammers. It was zombie proof but not tanker proof. Tomorrow they were going to go around Austin, maybe find another cow and have a BBQ. Ellis' mouth watered at the thought of fresh ribs, right now all they had was oreos and Pringles. Ellis heard a can clatter in the distance, he got the night vision out and the hunting rifle. There by a tree was a rolly polly boomer. Every zombie for half a mile would rush this place. Granted there weren't many but still. Ellis got the hunting rifle out thanked God for the full moons and silencers, took aim and pulled the trigger. Said boomer splattered all over the place. Boomers were the most fun to shoot, the least fun were the children zombies, you don't see many because the kids usually get trampled by the hordes, but the few you do see break your heart.

The rest of the night was uneventful, two of three wanderers that were easily taken care of. In the morning everyone got up and started packing. Ellis entertained them with stories that he'd picked up from the graffiti one night, apparently Chicago Ted had teamed up with Zoey's group and were making their way to Canada. He also told them the story about when his friend Dave accidentally ordered male midget strippers for Keith's bachelor party. Coach and Nick nearly wet themselves.

"Alright guys before we go on the road I need to lay out the plan, we're running low on fuel and ammo, Jimmy Gibbs jr. isn't gonna run on Keith stories so we have to make a little trip to a town outside of Austin. We got a couple of molotovs, two pipe bombs, and some ammo. I need someone to carry the sack while we fend anything and everything off. Ellis you have to keep at least one hand free to protect your right side. Rochelle you get the left, Nick front and me back. We clear."

"Crystal" said Rochelle

"Hey Nick ain't that the name of the stripper you told me about?"

Nick kicked Ellis "shut up!"

On the drive over Ellis prayed a few hail mary's, praying never hurt. They stopped the car just outside of town and got their things together. Ellis got a duffel bag and backpack, he held and ak-47 in one hand and a katana at his side. They walked toward the town keeping an eye out for smokers or hunters on roofs. Ellis kept quite there were a few wanderers to his left, he nudged Rochelle who took them out with her gun. She had recently equipped them with a silencer so there wasn't a chance of alerting anymore zombies. Usually Ellis found himself reading the graffiti for information but he noticed a few signs that didn't resemble CEDA's bullshit or the government.

As of June third 2010 the agents of Eden have provided new healthpacks, medicine, ammo, lasers, silencers and weapons to all safe houses in the area. We have also built 15 new safe houses and put mini-machine guns in various locations. Grab a map from below to find the nearest safe house where there will also be food and water available. There are also a few radios where you can contact EDEN, they will send rescue. Ellis jogged to the sign and the others followed, bellow was a stack of papers, he found a map with a pamphlet attached to it and gave it to coach.

"What the Hell is Eden?"

Everyone turned to Ellis, they new about his habit of reading all the graffiti around him.

"I don't know exactly what it is, but I've seen some messages on the walls between survivors that say 'I'm going to Eden or we'll meet up in Eden."

"Maybe we should go to Eden. " Rochelle said while reloading

"We'll figure that out later, right now we need supplies, let's have a look at this here map."

"Alright, well this maps a lot of help," everyone gathered around coach to have a look "the red areas are danger areas, CEDA evac centers, areas of religious worship, and hospitals. Purple is last known area where witches where seen, blue is doors where they corralled tanks, boomers and chargers."

"So if we stick to the path and we don't run into, smokers or hunters we'll be safe."

Ellis picked up the bags and followed the group. Everyone kept quiet and he resisted the urge to break the silence with one of his stories or jokes. He hated the somber atmosphere of overrun cities and the silence that was the worst, he'd take coach's farts over the silence any day. They passed a shoe store and that reminded him that they needed new shoes. He nudged Nick and motioned towards the store.

"Thank God, I can't handle these shoes anymore. Suit's not comfortable either."

"I need new tennis shoes, these are torn to shit."

They walked in through a broken window and searched the isles for their sizes. Nick took of his shoes and replaced them with some the same black tennis shoes that coach was grabbing. Ellis found some clean socks and tossed his to his team members.

"That's loads better, I never knew clean socks felt this good. You know since this apocalypse happened I have dreams of showers and laundry mats. Ellis honey can you hand me those boots over there?"

"yes, Ma'am"

"alright fellas we gotta move"

Coach led the team down an alley towards a gas station. They filled up a few gasoline canisters and put them in the duffel bag.

"Alright the map says that there is a safe house in a gun store about three blocks from here."

"These agents of Eden are more help than the government"

"AAAeeerg!"

Everyone froze in their spots and looked around for the smoker. The snake like tongue shot out and wrapped itself around Nick, Coach grabbed him while Ellis swung his katana down. Rochelle aimed and fired at the smoker hiding behind a trash can. Everyone covered their mouths as a billow of smoke rose from the smoker. Tears flooded Ellis' eyes as they walked through the noxious gas. They were blinded for just a moment when a boomer came into their line of sight. Nick shot it but not in time the mutated zombie had expelled its stomach contents onto Rochelle.

"Run goddammit run!" yelled coach.

Ellis looped the duffel bag onto his elbow grabbed Rochelles hand while she tried desperately to see through the bile and ran. Nick was shooting as many as he could and keeping them from Rochelle and Ellis who was beheading anything that came within two feet of her.

"I can help! Tell me where to shoot."

"To your right!" yelled coach who was bludgeoning a mime with a baseball bat"

"You guys are slower than my grandmother, move your asses before anymore come!" Nick ran ahead mowing down the rest of the horde with his AK-47.

"I can see some shapes now" Rochelle said as she shot at a spitter before it could regurgitate on them.

"Woah! That was one lucky shot!

"What happened?"

"You got a spitter with bile still in your eyes."

"You sound a little too surprised hun"

"Come on" Nick grabbed Rochelles hand and ran, Coach was jogging toward another street when they heard the roar of a tank.

"Y'all better run, Nick hand Ellis the grenade launcher."

"There's only one shot"

"Give it to Ellis, You know he's the only one who's ever managed to pull it off!"

Ellis dropped his bags while Nick tossed him the weapon. The ground started shaking as the tank came closer. Ellis stood on top of a car and waited for the charger while his family hid behind a hummer. Rochelle clung to Nick who cleaned off her face while Coach nervously bit his lip. They didn't have to wait long for their guest who burst through tossing a car and starting an alarm.

"Shoot him!"

Ellis took aim and waited for the tank to toss a rock or a car. It picked up a Jetta and tossed it at Ellis.

"Duck"

He dodged it but jumping onto another car and took his shot just as the tank was less than five feet away. It was a direct hit that blew off everything above the tanks shoulder.

"Fuck Yeah"

"Rochelle hun, I hope you can see again cause that alarm is gonna bring hell for us."

"I can shut it off"

"No Ellis don't!"

Ellis ran toward the car the tank had knocked over about 40 feet away. He could already hear some zombies roaring when he reached it. He opened the hood reached in and pulled on some wires. The alarm stopped but the damage was already done.

"We got a horde coming but there's going to be less coming cause of this"

"Good now pick up the bag and run we gotta haul ass"

Ellis turned to pick up his bag when the first surge of the horde came out. Nick threw a Molotov and ignited them plus a nearby building.

"Run!"

They tried to stick as close together as possible without getting into each other's line of fire. Ellis was hacking through as many zombies as he could while the rest of the team was shooting them back. Coach threw a pipe bomb and nick shot another spitter. In the midst of all that chaos Ellis saw an arrow with a safe house symbol above it.

"Safe house is this way" while he ran ahead clearing a path with his katana Rochelle threw another Molotov. Ellis reached the arrow only to find a chargers hand was wrapped around him.

"It's got me!" Ellis beat at the chargers arms while it pummeled him into the ground, literally. Ellis felt a few of his rib break, and tried to breath. "shoot it!"

Rochelle aimed with her shot gun and blew the chargers head off. Flesh and brain matter splattered across Ellis' shirt.

"Come on get up Ellis, we can't do this without you"

Rochelle pulled Ellis up.

"I ain't gonna lie I'm hurting real bad"

"Come on let's get outta he…." Rochelle was cut off by a hooded figure that had launched itself at her. The hunter started slashing at her chest ripping through her shirt and skin. "Get it off of me! Get it off!" Rochelle let out a blood curling scream and Ellis felt her blood splash across his face. He tried to knock the hunter off but it had its claws in her, its claws were literally in her, embedded between her ribs. Rochelle coughed up blood and Ellis hacked at the hunter finally decapitating it. Rochelle was bleeding out and Ellis tried to find the strength to pull her and himself up. Coach and Nick ran toward them, Coach pulled Ellis up and Nick carried Rochelle. He tossed another Molotov and dragged Ellis towards the safe house sign. They finally saw it, about a block down the street. When another horde came up blocking their path. Coach threw another pipe bomb and Nick tossed a Molotov after it. They were three houses away when another horde appeared. That was also when a hooded figure leapt above them and landed on a car with a growl. Another hunter and a horde.

One thought occurred to Ellis "we are fucked"


	2. Friend with buns

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would not have left Bill die and I would be making one uber bad ass movie

please review!

Previously on EDEN

/

"I ain't gonna lie I'm hurting real bad"

"Come on let's get outta he…." Rochelle was cut off by a hooded figure that had launched itself at her. The hunter started slashing at her chest ripping through her shirt and skin. "Get it off of me! Get it off!" Rochelle let out a blood curling scream and Ellis felt her blood splash across his face. He tried to knock the hunter off but it had its claws in her, its claws were literally in her, embedded between her ribs. Rochelle coughed up blood and Ellis hacked at the hunter finally decapitating it. Rochelle was bleeding out and Ellis tried to find the strength to pull her and himself up. Coach and Nick ran toward them, Coach pulled Ellis up and Nick carried Rochelle. He tossed another Molotov and dragged Ellis towards the safe house sign. They finally saw it, about a block down the street. When another horde came up blocking their path. Coach threw another pipe bomb and Nick tossed a Molotov after it. They were three houses away when another horde appeared. That was also when a hooded figure leapt above them and landed on a car with a growl. Another hunter and a horde.

One thought occurred to Ellis "we are fucked"

/

Ellis grabbed his pistol and aimed at the hunter before it could strike but its leg extended and kicked his gun out of his hand. It reached into the hoodie pocket and pulled out a bile bomb. Since when do hunters carry bile bombs? Coach was about to shoot the hunter when Ellis pulled on his arm and made his shots go wide. The hunter turned and threw the bomb at a charger that Ellis had failed to notice. The horde diverted its path and attacked the charger.

"Run" yelled the hooded figure Coach supported Ellis while Nick carried Rochelle to the safe house once the four of them where inside the faux hunter tossed a few molotovs at the horde that was still attacking the charger. It ran in with them and helped coach bolt the door shut.

Everyone was breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush and the run, the first person to stand was the hooded figure. It pulled down its hood and revealed a mass of black hair framing a feminine face.

"If you want to save the girl get your asses up and follow me, you'd better hurry, she's bleeding out."

She rose and led them up a flight of stairs to a room. There were three beds with white sheets and a cabinet with medical supplies. Nick lay Rochelle down on one of the beds while the girl riffled through the medical supplies.

"Who are you?" asked coach

"An immune survivor like you, if you know what blood type she is get it from the fridge over there."

"You still haven't told us your name" Nick said as he rifled through the fridge.

"my friends call me triple A, my name is Alexandra Althea Azrael" she said as picked bits of cloth and rubble out of Rochelle's wounds. "I prefer the name Thea but triple A seems to stick, hook the blood up there and grab one of the needles from there. You, big man, get me some scissors." She cleaned Rochelle's and gave her a shot of something. After hooking her up to the IV drip and blood she began stitching her up.

"I don't like it when people hover over my shoulder so treat your cuts while I finish. Except for you, you lay down so I can have a look at your ribs."

Ellis obeyed and looked around, the place was relatively free of graffiti and the walls looked like they had recently been painted, the whole place was clean. He stared at her as she worked on Rochelle, he hadn't noticed when she had out on surgical gloves or the apron. She was putting Rochelled skin back together like it was a puzzle or quilt. When she was done there were still patches of skin that were missing. She put something in a petri dish and began wrapping Rochelle's chest. When she finished she close a curtain around Rochelle's bed and moved to leave the room. Nick grabbed her wrist on stopped her.

"You haven't told us how she's doing"

"If she survives the night she'll be fine, if not…" she shrugged her shoulders and walked off.

"I don't trust her" he grumbled

"I don't either, but she just saved our lives and fixed Rochelle up better that any of us could. And we don't really have much of a choice."

"Check out those gloves" Ellis pointed on one of the trays.

"I use those to blend in with the hunters," Thea came back in and tossed Nick and Coach a beer. "the palm of the gloves have a strong magnet that lets me hang from poles and other things without slipping, the claws are made out of Titanium and help me crawl up walls." She opened Rochelle's curtain and closed it behind her.

"What are you doing?"

"Changing her out of her clothes, chill mafioso, I'm not gonna mess with your girl, I don't swing that way."

"She's not my girl!"

"Sure she's not"

She opened the curtain and everyone saw that Rochelle was tucked in snugly. She'd gotten a little color in her skin. She popped open a soda and chugged, let out a loud burp and tossed the can.

"So…. Whose got dibs on the first shower?"

Nick let out a frustrated growl "I want some answers, now cupcake"

"Sure thing stinky, I was going offer you guys a shower, some beds and then answer all your questions over dinner, but… if you want to be bad guests"

"Ma'am we're much obliged, and if the offer still stands we'll take that shower and save the interrogation for later, and did I ever happen to thank you for saving our lives?"

"You didn't and your welcome….. don't call me ma'am, I'm barely old enough to drink. Now once you guys are washed up you can come downstairs for some food, I left some clothes in the bathrooms downstairs for you Mr. Mafia and in the upstairs bathroom for you Big Dude."

"My name's Nick cupcake, get it right"

"You can call me Coach kiddo" Both men, but coach ruffled Ellis' and Thea's hair before leaving. Thea's expression softened a little with the kind gesture.

"Well ma'am I'm going to wait for a shower," Ellis got up to leave but Thea stepped in his path. For a moment Ellis was struck by how tiny she was, she couldn't be more than 5' 3". Her small fingers grazed over his chest and waist. "Uh muh eh, ma'am" With a swift motion she lifted up his shirt. "Woah there miss" She glared at him.

"You have two broken ribs, and I wouldn't surprised if your sternum was cracked."

"Aw shucks ma'am I'm fine"

"Really? Well prove it, take off your shirt."

"Fine" Ellis grabbed the edge of his shirt and lifted his arms up, he managed to get them as far up as his chest when he felt a sharp pain, he paused and tried to continue but the pain got worse. He felt Thea's hands easing his elbows down again. She looked at him with her dark green eyes with a soft expression. There's nothing I can do for broken ribs but give you pain pills and help you with some breathing exercises so that they heal right. We have to cut that shirt off and give you a button down. Try to keep your back straight for as much as possible and your chest up." She reached over for the scissors and cut along his chest. "Do you thing you can manage your pants?" Ellis started to bend to unbutton his pants when she stopped him. "you have to try not to bend over or crouch for a few days ok"

"Yes ma'am"

"Don't call me that, I'll be right back."

Ellis managed to unbutton his pants but they wouldn't slide down, so he kicked and shimmied. He heard a low laugh from Rochelle's bed. "You alright Elle"

"I feel like I'm in the sky"

"I guess you're still loopy from the drugs eh"

"It's nice, Now I know why my neighbors smoked so much"

Ellis continued to shimmy to make Rochelle laugh.

"You look like a fool Ellis"

"Yes ma'am I certainly do"

"I'll say" Ellis turned around and saw Thea leaning against the door frame holding a robe. At that moment his pants decided to fall, along with his boxers. Thea's eyes turned into saucers for a moment before she remembered to turn around. Ellis covered his jewels and Rochelle laughed.

"Ellis, hun, you have the cutest buns I have ever seen!"

Thea held the robe out to Ellis and he shuffled, with his pants still around his feet to get it. He put on the robe as quickly as he possibly could, but with two broken ribs he wasn't moving very fast.

"Ok, I think I'm decent now."

Thea picked his pants off the floor and tossed them in a nearby basket. She went over to check on Rochelle and injected her with more drugs.

Now then, why don't you wash your hands and help me with dinner.

"Yes ma….um Thea"

Thea smirked, "we just might be friends Ellis"


	3. Memories

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would not have left Bill die and I would be making one uber bad ass movie

p.s. please review I'm kind of contemplating whether or not I should continue. Suggestions will be welcome. Please no strong insults or language.

-Dxlilith- thank you for your review you are awesomeness embodied. And I love your advice and suggestions

Previously on EDEN

A mysterious hooded figure named triple A saves our survivors and patches up Rochelle. While Rochelle is in a drugged state of mild euphoria Ellis reveals his bum to AAA, Nick shows hostility towards her and Coach is saving his judgment. AAA has offered the survivors a place to stay while Rochelle heals her hunter induced wounds and Ellis' ribs heal as well. No one knows much about the new survivor other than the fact that she has found a way to travel undetected by the dead.

Now we continue our heroes journey.

Ellis followed Thea down the stairs towards the kitchen. He looked around and noticed an elliptical attached to a generator. That explained how she powered the house. Thea opened the fridge and pulled out some vegetables and corn.

"There's some antibacterial soap by the sink, wash your hands and rinse some veggies with the water."

They both washed their hands and Thea started cleaning and cutting the meat.

"So what are we making?"

"Pot roast, corn, and baked potatoes"

"Woah, that's a feast!, whats the occasion."

"Actually you guys", she said and she tossed the meat into the large crock pot."I haven't seen anyone in about 3 months so I'm enjoying the company. Please peel the carrots While I go into the freezer."

"Sure thing"

Thea walked away and Ellis peeled the carrots. The smells in the kitchen reminded him of his mother grandmother and sisters working away in the kitchen when he was younger. Before the infection struck he had a large family, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. There was always someone to talk to and laugh with no matter what time it was. There was always a baby that needed bouncing or someone that needed a hand with something. Ellis missed that noise and company. When the infection first struck in Savannah no one really knew what to make of it. One of nieces had been bitten when she was at a playground. Ellis remembered when she came home crying and his mother bandaged the bite. It was too late to make an appointment at the hospital so they decided to take her to the hospital in the morning. When Ellis' brother Robert woke up he found his daughter eating his wife. Bobby called  
Ellis and their younger brother Charlie to help him hold his daughter down. When they got there Bobby had few bites on his arm and had managed to tie his daughter, Sophie to a chair. He was crying and told Ellis everything while Charlie called CEDA. They cleaned Bobby's bites and covered his wife Sally's body. They waited for a while when CEDA Showed up, they carted Sophie away and took Bobby in one of their medical vehicles. Before they left they started asking Ellis and Charlie questions and that was when Sally stood up from her bed and attacked one of the guys in the hazmat suit. Shots were fired and Sally didn't go down no matter how many bullets were shot until one hit her brain. CEDA told them to go back home and board up the house until the evac stations were ready. When the plane finally came there wasn't enough room for everyone. Ellis gave up his spot for Keith and his younger brother Charlie.

Thea came back her hands filled with food and a smile on her face.

"Thanks giving was last week so this can me our feast"

Ellis turned to look at her and smiled. "Sounds great!"

She stopped to look at him and gave him a sad smile, "remembering"

Ellis looked down at the carrots he had chopped and let out a small laugh. "kind of….Did I ever tell you about my buddy Keith?"

This is a small chapter I know but I wanted to give people insight into the life Ellis and the other survivors had before the infection and what they do to cope. Ellis tells funny stories about the brightside of life to keep his and everyone elses mind off of the current situation. Everyone has their coping mechanisms and I'm going to explore that.

Please make any suggestions or bring up any points that you believe to be necessary


	4. Slim Jims and coke

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would not have left Bill die and I would be making one uber bad ass movie

p.s. please review I'm kind of contemplating whether or not I should continue. Suggestions will be welcome. Please no strong insults or language.

-Dxlilith- thank you for your review you are awesomeness embodied. And I love your advice and suggestions

p.s i dun goofed and posted 3 again X{, sorry!

Previously on EDEN

Ellis looked down at the carrots he had chopped and let out a small laugh. "Kind of….Did I ever tell you about my buddy Keith?"

Now we continue our hero's journey.

Nick came out of his shower and noticed that his clothes were gone.

"Da Hell" He knew he left them on the toilet seat. He looked around and hanging on the towel rack were clean pants and a shirt, below that were fresh socks and the shoes he had just gotten. Damn it all he never told that woman he wanted new clothes; he liked his suit just fine. He was going to give her a piece of his mind. He dried off with one of the towels she had left him. He smelled something funny…. Wait was that laundry detergent? Where the fuck did she get laundry detergent? Any person that can find time to wash clothes and add laundry detergent during a God damned zombie apocalypse can't be trusted. Nick pulled on the clothes that the girl left him and walked out he bumped into coach who was wearing a T-shirt with the Midnight riders and some jeans.

"Feel good to wash up and wear clean clothes for a change don't it"

"Yeah, I guess, but don't you think it's weird that she has all these things."

"Boy my momma always told me to not look a gift horse in the mouth. This is by far the best thing that has happened to us since the apocalypse happened."

"Well my mother taught me not to trust anyone so can we at least keep an eye on her."

Coach dried his head and pondered Nick's proposal for the moment.

"All right here's the plan, We stick around until Rochelle is well enough to travel. If the girl acts weird or tries to attack us I think the three of us can take her."

"Thank you"

"But I'm warning you, don't jump the gun on this. She's saved us and opened her home for us. Not to mention I think she has something to do with…."

Coach sniffed the air and his eyes widened.

"Do with what? What's goin on coach?"

"Oh Lord"

Coach ran down the stairs and Nick followed worried for the worst. Before they rounded a corner he heard Ellis yelp, Nick instinctively pulled out a gun. What he found was improbable.

Ellis and the girl were wearing aprons and she was smacking him with a spatula.

"Damn it Ellis I told you to wear oven mitts!"

"Sorry"

Coach chuckled and picked up the baked potatoes Ellis had dropped on the ground with a clean dishtowel.

"Thank you Coach, can you please put them in that bowl over there, the one with the blue flowers."

"Yes Ma'am"

"Again with the ma'am, Christ I'm not old enough to be a ma'am. Nick could you please set the table."

Nick did as he was told, everything was so surreal, pretty dishes, napkins, place mats, COASTERS!

"Oh I forgot to tell you to set a plate aside to take to your girlfriend"

"She is not my girlfriend!"

As he set the table Nicks mind drifted back to the day before he went to Savannah. When he had a wife and kids, sure he was a part of the mob, but that didn't mean he didn't have people he loved before the infection Nick had a beautiful Mexican/Italian wife named Dana who gave him three beautiful girls and a son. Every night he'd come home to something cooking in the oven and someone showing him a drawing or a grade on it. His eldest girl Rachel always stayed with her mother in the kitchen and helped cook while Becca begged to be allowed to cook something. Maria was still a baby and Danny was bashing his toy cars together. Rachel was only a few years younger than Rochelle and she acted very much like her, she even wanted to work in television like Rochelle. She also had the same patience with children like Rochelle, the child in question being Ellis. He wished he hadn't left Vegas for that business tripe in Savannah. Before he could drift away the smell of food wafted into his nose. Fuck that smelled delicious. AAA served him his food when he sat down and he was about to dig in when Coach stopped him.

"Wait a sec"

She served everyone else sat down and reached her hands out to her sides. Nick looked at it as if it were a foreign object, Ellis caught on first and grabbed her hand and held his hand out for Coach. They were all joining hands and all Nick had to do was hold hers for prayer to start. Suddenly he was back at the table Danny was in his high chair, Becca was playing with her curls, Rachel with her phone and Dana was getting everyone to join hands for the prayer. She'd shoot Nick a smile close her eyes and say her prayers. Nick held her hand and bowed his head trying to keep himself from crying.

AAA said quietly "Lord, we thank you for this meal in these hard times, we thank you for the company we enjoy today and the small comforts we have. We thank you for the roof over our heads and the temporary rest we are enjoying. We pray that there are others out there enjoying these same comforts and that this nightmare will end soon. We also ask that you help us in our journey to find a refuge from this carnage and peace in this earth. Most of all we hope we can find this peace and share it with the people we have lost and are trying to find. Please continue to watch over us and offer what protection you can. Amen"

Everyone put down their hands AAA and Ellis were the first ones to dig in followed by chef who wiped a tear away.

"By the way Nick I left you wallet on the counter, I'll give you your suit back once I clean it."

"Thank you" She smiled and leaned over preparing his potato. She made an X cut squished it added butter, salt sour cream and crushed oregano. Just like his Nona used to make. (Italian word for grammy)

"I want one like that." Ellis whined

"Ok, ok gimme a second." She turned around and started making one for Ellis and another for Coach. Nick started eating and nearly cried from the taste alone. Slim jims and coked can't compare.


	5. questions answered

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would so not have put that pink thong on the spitter. Ewww!

p.s. please review I'm kind of contemplating whether or not I should continue. Suggestions will be welcome. Please no strong insults or language.

-Dxlilith- thank you for your review you are awesomeness embodied. And I love your advice and suggestions

Previously on EDEN

Nick reflects on the life he once had while everyone sits for a meal prepared by AAA.

Note AAA is pronounced triple A…like the battery

We now continue w/ our story

Coach let out a large burp and chuckled, "That was deliscious"

Nick and Ellis let out simultaneous burps and knocked fists together.

"Ditto"

"Keith would have loved this"

AAA stood up with a serious expression on her face. Everyone stared and waited for her to say something when she let out the biggest burp of all. All three men's jaws dropped as AAA's burp continued and everyone was put to shame. She sat down and smoothed out her shirt.

"Now that we've established my dominance" AAA said with a grin, "let's talk. What do you guys want to know"

"Well for starters, why is this safe house so well supplied?"

"Eden came here about a month ago with supplies to help wandering survivors and make a clean sweep"

"How do you know that?"

"Cause I was with them."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I'm part of Eden, my team and I came down here about a month ago to sweep and resupply this town. We killed about 20,000. There's still a couple thousand wandering here and there but most of the special infected were killed or corralled."

"Tell that to Roche" Nick muttered bitterly, Coach and Ellis elbowed him.

"Hey there's not much we can do about hunters, their faster and stealthier than all the others. We got all the witches in one area, god knows that was hard enough, and locked them up."

"How'd you manage that?"

"They like the smell of sugar and sweet things. A friend of mine got the idea when he was passing through a sugar mill and found 20 witches in the area. We put a bunch of sugar cane and bags of sugar in a warehouse waited a week and when we came back there were 15 witches in the building and a few wandering in the nearby streets. Tanks were harder, we took them down however we could, same with the others. "

Coach remembered when his team had to go through a sugar mill and wondered if it was the same one.

"What's Eden?" Ellis finally asked the question that had been on everyone's minds.

"Survivors that weren't allowed into military or refugee compounds or do not trust the military. A lot of us got shot at or heard rumors about the experiment facility. Sadly enough most of them are true. We have a compound North from here, FAR North. We were building a wall around the compound and came down here to collect some of the harvestable foods from the farms and do our sweep."

"Why are you still here?"

"Someone in my group betrayed me, he didn't like my ideas or the fact that I have power in Eden so he knocked me out while a horde attacked us and I'm pretty sure he told my team members I was dead."

"Power?"

"Not much, they called me the architect. I designed the walls and new city plans. Also work schedules and guard rotations. But my opinion is highly valued." AAA shrugged her shoulders "All of my proposals worked so people trusted me."

"How come you haven't gone back?"

"Can't, we destroyed all roads going there. I could try to go through the woods but in all likelihood I might be mistaken for an infected and get shot by one of the snipers on the outer wall. I was going to use one of the radios in the safe houses but Connor destroyed them all. I can't figure out how to fix them."

"Ellis is a mechanic maybe he can have a look at it."

"Hey if it works I'll take out the ice cream to celebrate."

"And if it doesn't?" Nick asked.

AAA closed her eyes for a moment… "It has to, cause if it doesn't there's no way we're going to survive much longer. Life on the road is hard, the longer you're on the road the harder is gets. Safe houses get depleted, food starts to run out, bandits attack you, not to mention the fact that you have to deal with the walking dead and the military trying to kill you. No we have to get to Eden. It's the only safe place."

"What makes you think we're going with you?" Nick yelled angrily.

AAA blinked and apologized "Sorry, I just wanted to bring you guys along, but if you're going somewhere or you don't want to goto Eden I guess that's fine"

Ellis put a hand on her shoulder, "Thea it's not that, we just need to talk about it before we rush into it"

She smiled and started gathering up all the plates, "well I'll leave you guys to discuss this, I'll take a plate up to Rochelle. While you three talk, by the way I made brownies so help yourselves."

She left with a steaming bowl and a baked potato. Once she was out of sight Ellis punched Nick.

"OW, what was that for!"

"For being a bad guest"


	6. Butter!

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would so not have put that pink thong on the spitter. Ewww!

p.s. please review I'm kind of contemplating whether or not I should continue. Suggestions will be welcome. Please no strong insults or language.

-Dxlilith- thank you for your review you are awesomeness embodied. And I love your advice and suggestions.

Previously on Eden:

AAA answered the groups questions and offered to take them up to Eden. Ellis, Coach and Nick are left to decide what they want to do.

Coach poured himself a glass of coffee and some artificial creamer, he never realized how precious something like fresh milk and clean water was till it was all gone. The brownie's rich chocolate taste went well with the coffee and he savored it as much as he could while Ellis and Nick fought over what to do. Ellis was in favor of going to Eden and helping AAA contact her friends up north. Nick didn't want to contact anyone and thought that they should go their own way once Rochelle was all patched up. Coach kept quiet and enjoyed his first brownie in months. Once the flavor had left his tongue he cleared his throat. Both men turned towards him as he poured coffee in two mugs, he handed the mugs over and took a sip from his own. Taste that.

Both men took a sip and looked at him questioningly.

"That is sugar in that mug, in this safe house there is running water and power. This is the most well supplied town we have ever run across." Coach took another sip and before Nick could protest he spoke up again. "I'm not saying that we go and stay there forever, let's just see what there is to offer. If we don't like it and things don't sit right, well we'll leave. I know your suspicious Nick, and I understand why, if these people were tricked into leaving AAA behind then maybe they don't have things as good as she says. But this is our only hope for a semblance of normalcy. I gotta tell you Nick, I'm bone tired and we all need a little hope. If we keep on going this way I don't know how long we are gonna last "

Nick sat down and sighed, "We were going to Vegas next"

"Whoever you new in Vegas is gone, either they're dead or on the run like everyone else."

Nick ran his hand through his now shaggy hair and sighed "You're probably right."

Coach and Ellis patted him roughly on his back. "Don't worry about it ok"

They talked a little more about their plans, Eden, food and the good old days. After a while coach stood up and called the guys upstairs to check on Rochelle. Rochelle had gotten some color back in her cheeks. She was eating with gusto.

"Oh my God! Coach there's BUTTER!"


	7. talking to objects

I do not own any of the characters of Left for Dead or the game…..if I did I would so not have put that pink thong on the spitter. Ewww!

p.s. please review I'm kind of contemplating whether or not I should continue. Suggestions will be welcome. Please no strong insults or language.

-Dxlilith- thank you for your review you are awesomeness embodied. And I love your advice and suggestions.

Previously on Eden:

Ellis Coach and Nick decide to take up AAA's offer to go to Eden.

Ellis sat down at the kitchen counter top and fiddles a bit with a spring. He knew more or less what he was doing, he might be considered a redneck by everyone, but damn it he was a smart redneck. He'd been fixing and building things since he was old enough to carry a hammer. Ellis was smart, he had the opportunity to go to college but he didn't see the point in being stuck to a desk all day. He hated homework, tests were easier cause he could sit for an hour and be done with it. Besides he liked fixing cars and messing around with his pals. Ellis closed the casing of the radio and tried it out… damn still wasn't working. He opened it again and started grumbling.

"Baby why are you doing this to me? Don't yeh love me no more baby?"

"Is she being bad?"

Ellis head shot up from his work in surprise and he saw Thea leaning against the door frame. She was wearing a robe and fresh out of the shower, the steam was still rising from the nape of her neck. She smiled like she was laughing at him in her head.

"Shucks, ma'am you scared me."

"Sorry, but you were talking to yourself."

"Something you gotta do if you wanna fix something. Yelling ain't gonna help none. So I reckon if you speak sweet ta it, It'll be sweet too." Ellis tried to keep himself from cringing, his accent always got worse when he was talking to a pretty girl.

"Guess it couldn't hurt."

She poured herself some coffee and brought Ellis a mug with lots of cream and sugar. Ellis thanked her and took a few sips before getting back to work. While her presence was distracting for a few minutes she was quite enough that he managed to immerse himself in his work. He closed the casing for it again and it finally turned on.

"Is it working?"

"I don't know, I need to test it out with a signal."

"Try the Eden frequency, it's somewhere between 933 and 940."

They managed to find the frequency but couldn't get a message across. Ellis opened the radio again and Thea started cleaning the kitchen. Ellis used some foil to improve the frequency and tried again. Thea rushed over and started speaking on the radio.

"This is AAA, calling from sector 12, I am in need of a pick up crew."

There was silence on the other line for a few seconds, "Thea is that you"

"Rain! Thank God"

"I thought you were dead"

"That bastard Wilson knocked me out and left me!"

"That fat fuck! Where are you?"

"Sector twelve house #6. I got a couple immunes here, three males one female."

"All right, but you're going to have to wait a while. I have to kill Wilson and get Fang to give me a couple of men."

"Keep me updated ok"

"Will do, I'll keep someone on the line"

Thea hung up and smiled. "Go tell your friends that we're getting out of here"


End file.
